Velocity measuring apparatus adapted for use in impact testing machines



April 11, 1950 E. c. TAYL AL 2,503,307 VELOCITY MEASURING APPARATUS ADAPTED FOR USE IN IMPACT TESTING MACHINES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 21; 1945 LIMIT SWITCH srames DISTRIE U 705:

POINT:

A CAPACITORS ark/P 0/50 snow )wvu. Aaov: A/VV/L AFTER SPARK JEFORE as 0 IMPACT l SWITCHES IMPACT 1713c F/ELP v maroR 197505747 32 32 DISC 5 WITCH TIMER SWITCH 32 5 Fig 4 INVEN T 0R5 Edward C. Taylor Frao Lager W/Yh'am f7. Hoppmann 1r .A TTOKNEY Patented Apr. 11, 1950 VEUQGITY: MEASURING APPARATUS JADAPT- ED FOR' USE- IN-f IMPACTI TESTING MA CHIN ES Edward G; Taylor'and William H. Hoppmann, II, Valley- Stream;andiFred Lager, New York; N. Y;

Applicationlseptember 21, 19145, Serial N o. 617,901v

4 Claims:

(Granteda under the; act

of March 3, 1883, as

amended? April 30, 1928; 370 0. G; 757) This-r invention: relates: in generala to: a2. spark recorder and in particular; to a: spark. recorder adapted to locatecand recordlthe position of; a: movingobj ect att a series 01; predetermined: stants: 5

In copending application; Serial No.t6l"7,9.00', entitled Impacti:tester and filedrseptember 21', 19.45; by WilliamPI-Ii Hoppmanm. II, there-t is;v disie closed a method and apparatus for testing so the high-speed tensileecharacteristics ofzconstruction in materials; In this'xapparatusaax specimen: is; suse pended; between as, guided"; weightl and: are guided: hammerand":theeassemblycisz:directed-Iiagainst-an. anvil adapteditozaz'resttther motion ofxaehammerz without stopping-,the moti'on of theweight; theree by causing: theispecimenitol be" pulled; and Lbroken between-.- the hammer: and; weight: In: this; andnumerous other: casessit :isinecessary torecordthe; position and velocitym a::moving-:'bo.dy:insordert to; ascertain its,;:velocity and: in: this: case. the. change "in velocitysofra givenitime interval.

Accordinglviitiis an: object a of thisrinvention: to" provide 'apparatus;forixlocating and :"recording; the position-;ofyazmoving'iobiect "ataazpluralitypf: spaced times;

It is a furtherobject:to; provide;arspark record+- erradapted toxrecord thesposition of amoving object at:acseriesaofztimesiat :predtermined intervals;

It is, another object to.,=provide-r.a1method and apparatus for recording-the =positiorrand velocity of-amoving assemblyypriortobits impact againstan anvil andtorecordthe position and velocity: of parts of this-assemblyafter.thezimpact.

Further objects and: advantageszof' thisfinvene tion,. as well as itsrconstruction;arrangement and: operation; will, be.-.-app arent fromthe': following; description and; claims l-; in connection:- with the; accompanying drawings; ing-which r Figure -1i,iS tax-schematic :side elevation showing the arrangement of a spark recorder; according; to. this inventionyonf an impact tester; asrdescribed-in :hereinbeforereferred to :application: Serial-No: 617,900; flledziseptemberazl, 1945.

Figure. 2 isrgacacross asectionof apportion :oflthe 45 apparatus showing a recording;stripz'positionedf to receive a spark from a sparkspointmounted on t'thexmoving -hammer shown in;Fi"g,ure-.1. I

FigureiB isz-a cross sectionxof a portiontof the:

apparatuszshowing *a recordinggstrip adapted v to receive :a: sparkiromrthe falling-weight: andv Figure. :4.-is. arwiringjidiagram of the :spark re.-.- corderrelectrical circuit; I

There is rzshownixinzt'l 'igure;1J:an:;impacti testing; apparatus; ,generallyrdesignatedcal ll-fcomprlsing a tower'l khaving aspair'of guideirails; l2 on iwhich axhammer; or tupz l3 isia'dapted. to slide; sus' pended below thehammer by. means ofaspeci-- men Hiis'a' weight l5. This falling assembly is directed against aneanvil [6 at thesbasez. of tower: l.l,xandranvi1 being adaptedito arrest the motion of: hammer I 3Jand option'ally to cause ittorre bound upwards and at the same time to. permit the-.weight to passtherethrnugh. The anvil I6 is: provided& with. the; aperture: or passage 51; which: is :large' enough .to: permit: the; weight l 5 to passsthrough:itglbut which issmaller than the area" encompassed by thei'hammer l3.

Mounted adjacent torthesanvillat the-bottom of tower II is a rotatinggdisk lljthe'surface f which'sis parallel with: direction of 1 motion. of i the tup assembly; A'opoint or. prongi I8" (refera-lso to Figure 2) projects from the: hammer in the; directionwoflthewdiskzand is.-' adapted to :pass withina1 sparking distance of the surface of 1 the disk as will be hereinafter. described.

Mounted below the anvil ista. metallic strip :l 9- with itSfSlllfELCB parallel to the motion-of-the falling, assembly and so positioned. that the -falling weight after impact passes near to its-surface A projection 20' (also see-Figure 3) is mounted on thevfallingj weightland adaptedto passwithin a sparkingpdistance ofvthe surface of this I strip.

Suitable electric leads-are connectedtothe vrotatingdisleandto the metallic strip'according to conventional means and suitable electric groundsare providedon the hammer and weight.

Figure 2: isa cross'section indicating the :relative ipositionsiof. the hammer I3 anddiskllat a time slightly before-theimpact period and showlngia general constructionlof thedisk. A-- disk l'l-comprisesta relativelysmooth metal surface.

preferably formedrby a metal disk 21 conventionally,rotatably, mounted adjacent'to the base of the tower .l I. On the inner surface of this disk facing'the"'falling, assembly is'a' layer of Waxed paper 22 or thelike which is adapted to leave a visible "record -of-an electric sparking between a disk '21 and'the spark point 18' This disk is prefrablvrotatably mounted by? conventional means onia'turning d'evice,which"is' disk at a relatively slow speed: A suitab1e turning motor 'an'd mounting means are :conventional i and 1 therefore are -i' not adapted ItOWOtatG the shown in the: figures. Preferably thissdisk'r-isrotatedat "such aspeed: that the disk .passes'throu'gh about1a110 :or 20 degree are whilethe hammer is passingxdown-xinflfront of the disk-"and rebounding 1 upward: By this means TthE path-Of point l8: on the :waxed paper will be represented by a series:

purpose of separating these lines and enabling the determination of which points were traced by the falling hammer and which points were traced by the rebounding hammer.

In Figure 3 there is shown a cross section of the strip spark plate for determining the velocity of the falling weight after the impact period. In-

asmuch as the weight passes this point only once for each impact, it is unnecessary to provide a rotating disk in this position.

Accordingly, there is provided a relatively narrow strip l9 mounted by extension arms 24 on an insulating support 25. On the surface of the strip 19 is a strip of waxed paper 23 or the like adapted to leave record of electric sparks as in the case of the waxed paper 22 on the recording disk 2| described in Figure 2. An electric wire 2'! leads to the electric circuit, which will be hereinafter described, and a spark point mounted on weight 15 approaches the spark strip I 9.

The spark gaps between the disk H or strip l9 and the spark point l8 or 20, respectively, are large enough to prevent physical contact between the two members, yet small enough to permit a spark to be readily carried therebetween. This adjustment is conventional and well within. the ability of the skilled workman.

The sparking disk 2! and the sparking strip ii! are activated by the electric circuit as will be described hereinafter through switches (shown in Figure 4) which may be either manually cOntrolled or automatically controlled by the falling weight. For example, the weight or hammer passing a point above the sparking apparatus may be used to throw a switch energizing the apparatus without interfering with the accuracy of the test, and such switch setup is conventional.

Figure 4 is a wiring diagram for the herein described spark recording apparatus. The sparking electric potential is provided by means of a conventional storage battery 3| preferably having an E. M. F. of about 18 volts, the battery being connected through switches 32, which control the energization of the sparking disk and sparking stripsl'l and IS. The high-potential spark is supplied by a pair of six-contact automobile distributors 33, which are driven respectively by a pair of electric motors 3 4, and the electric interruption is transformed to a high potential spark by means of coils and condensers 36 according to conventional electric practice. The mechanical hookup between these distributors and electric motors is conventional and accordingly is not set forth in separate figures. In series with the disk 11 and strip 19 are 0.03 megohm resistances 31, which serve to prevent a plurality of sparks that otherwise might be caused by a resurging current. Switch 38 is attached to the impact tester to shut off the current automatically at the end of a test. Suitable electric currents are provided as indicated in the wiring diagram.

The disk I? is rotated by a disk motor 38, which is powered by a suitable source of, for example, 220 volts D. C., and which is controlled by conventional means such as rheostat 39. The operation of this motor is controlled by switches 32a,

which may be either manually or automatically controlled.

The distributors are operated by means of distributor motors 34 powered, for example, by volts A. C. current and controlled by switches 32b, which may be manually or automatically controlled. These distributor motors are optionally adapted to operate the distributors at 30 revolutions per second, which results in a sparking frequency of per second.

A pair of warning lamps 40 are optionally connected into the electric circuit at a convenient point to indicate when the circuit is in operation.

In the use and operation of this sparking recorder the following procedure is carried out. The hammer and weight assembly is raised to the top of tower II. The switches operating the sparking recorder (if manually controlled) are closed and the assembly permitted to fall. After the impact the hammer may or may not rebound depending on the nature of the specimen, and the weight continues to fall. A spark between the hammer and the disk 11 traces a series of dots (V-shaped, if the hammer rebounds), which indicate the speed of the falling and rebounding hammer. If possible, these dots are counted off into groups of six to eliminate the chance of error caused by uneven location of the distributor points within the distributor. Likewise on strip is below the anvil there is recorded a series of dots indicating the speed of the weight after the impact. These dots likewise are counted off into groups of six in order to reduce error. From the records obtained on the strip and disk of waxed paper there may be obtained data that enable calculation of the velocities of the hammer and weight before and after impact thereby enabling a calculation of the amount of energy absorbed by the specimen in breaking.

Simultaneously with the taking of these measurements there may be made other electrical measurments as indicated in copending application, Serial No. 617,902, entitled Electrical measuring apparatus, and filed September 21, 1945 by William H. Hoppmann, II, and Edward C. Taylor, now Patent No. 2,475,614, July 12, 1949.

It is to be understood that while this spark recorder has been particularly described in connection with an impact testing apparatus, nevertheless the scope of the spark recorder is not limited thereto. Numerous variations and modifications in the spark recorder may be made to meet certain specific problems which arise in connection with its use either on an impact tester or on other types of apparatus, and these variations and modifications are within the ability of one skilled in the art, and accordingly it is to be understood that the scope of this invention is not to be delineated by the specifications and drawings but on the contrary is indicated by the appended claims.

The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or forthe Government of the United States of America for governmental purposes without'the payment of any royalties thereon or therefor.

What is claimed is:

1. A spark recorder for recording the velocities of a rebounding object and of an object moving in only one direction, said recorder comprising a rotatable metallic disk positioned adjacent to and parallel with the path of the rebounding object and a metallic strip'positioned adjacent to and parallel with the path of the object moving in only one direction, a spark generator electrically connected to said disk and said strip, a

- sparking point positioned on each of said objects and adapted to pass within a sparking distance of the disk and strip respectively, electric grounds on said objects, and a record receiving means on the surfaces of the disk and strip to record the positions of sparks thereon.

2. In an impact testing machine having a guided rebounding hammer and a guided weight, a, spark recorder comprising a rotatable metallic disk adjacent to and parallel with the path of the hammer and a metallic strip adjacent to and parallel with the path of the weight, a spark generator electrically connected to said strip and said disk, a sparking point on said hammer positioned to pass within a sparking distance of said disk and a sparking point on said weight positioned to pass within a sparking distance of said strip, and waxed paper on the surfaces of the disk and strip to record the position of sparks passing between said disk and said hammer and between said strip and said weight.

3. In an impact testing machine having a guided rebounding hammer and a guided weight, a spark recorder comprising a rotatable electrically conducting disk adjacent to and parallel with the path of the hammer and an electrically conducting strip adjacent to and parallel with the path of the weight, a spark generator which generates sparks at regular predetermined intervals electrically connected to said strip and said disk, a sparking point on said hammer positioned to pass within a sparking distance of said disk and a sparking point on said weight positioned to pass within a sparking distance of said strip.

6 and record receiving means on the surfaces of the disk and strip to record the position of sparks passing between said disk and said hammer and between said strip and said weight.

4. In an impact testing machine having a guided rebounding hammer, a spark recorder comprising a rotatable metallic disk adjacent to and parallel with the path of the hammer and opposite the position of reversal of direction, a

spark generator electrically connected to said disk and adapted to generate sparks at regular predetermined intervals, a sparking point on said hammer positioned to pass within a sparking distance of the disk, and waxed paper on the surface of the disk to record the positions of sparks between the disk and the sparking point. EDWARD C. TAYLOR. WILLIAM H. HOPPMANN, II. FRED LAGER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

